European Parliament
A7-0204/2012
Vital Moreira  (S&D ).
(PT)
Mr President, I have the honour of belonging to a political group that accepts divergence when it is justified. These are the reasons why I have supported the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) since the start. First, I support it because piracy and counterfeiting are behind the constant rise in huge losses to the economy and employment capacity of the EU. Second, there cannot be effective protection of intellectual property rights without international cooperation. We can stop Chinese counterfeit goods at our borders, but we will not be able to do it in the US, Australia or Canada without an international agreement. Third, there cannot be effective protection of intellectual property rights without also covering piracy and counterfeiting on the Internet. Offering counterfeit goods on the Internet is no less serious than selling them in a street in Brussels or Strasbourg. Fourth, I believe that ACTA does not jeopardise civil liberties on the Internet. Fifth, intellectual property rights are fundamental rights of citizens, whereas piracy and counterfeiting are not.
(The speaker agreed to take a blue-card question under Rule 149(8))

